The Administration on Aging (AoA) is responsible for home and community-based services and programs related to aging. It also focuses on helping empower Americans before and during their later years to make informed decisions about health care options; ensuring the rights of the elderly, to prevent their abuse, neglect and exploitation; and facilitating society to prepare for an aging population.

Although the AoA office was not established until 1965, U.S. government involvement in the specific concerns of the elderly began much earlier. In 1935 the Social Security Act provided for Old Age Assistance and Old Age Survivors Insurance. In 1950, President Truman held the first National Conference on Aging, and two years later the first federal funds for social service programs for the elderly were made available. In 1956 a Special Staff on Aging was established within the Office of the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, and a Federal Council on Aging was created by President Eisenhower. In 1961, the first White House Conference on Aging was held; in 1962 legislation was introduced in Congress to establish an independent and permanent Commission on Aging; and three years later AoA began. In 1965 Medicare and Medicaid were added to the Social Security Act, and in 1967 the Age Discrimination Act was signed into law. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act was established in 1990. Since then, an Older Americans Act Amendment was added to cover vulnerable elder American right activities, including neglect and exploitation and the role of local ombudsman programs. An additional amendment established a new National Family Caregiver Support Program.

AoA, funded by the Older Americans Act, is part of a federal, state, tribal and local partnership called the National Network on Aging, which currently helps about 7 million older people and their caregivers, via 29,000 service providers and thousands of volunteers. The work the network is divided into six core services:

Supportive, which helps provide a wide variety of programs, including adult day care, chore services, financial and legal assistance, and transportation to medical appointments.

Nutrition, which provides education and health screenings and counseling, along with hot meal delivery programs for the homebound, and meal services as well for additional at-risk older people, many of whom come together to receive the meals at senior settings or other group locations .

Preventative health services, which educate about the benefits of regular screenings, positive lifestyle choices, and physical activities, to help prevent many chronic diseases. The guidance it offers also helps the elderly and their families make more informed choices with the goal to increase the length and quality of their lives.

The National Family Caregiver Support Program, which was funded for the first time in 2000, gives those responsible for the primary care of spouses, parents, older relatives and friends’ assistance in accessing relevant services, and knowledge about available support groups, to help them make decisions, solve problems and also take care of themselves in the process. Additionally, the program addresses grandparents caring for grandkids and caregivers of those 18 and under who are mentally retarded or have developmental difficulties.

Services that protect the rights of vulnerable older persons in the areas of abuse, neglect and exploitation, which includes programs that afford access to a long-term care ombudsman on-site at nursing homes, as an advocate to answer questions and investigate and resolve complaints; insurance and pension counseling; and Medicare patrol projects. AoA also awards grants to various groups across the country that carry out their mission, including States, territories, Hawaiian Americans, Native American tribes, and non-profit organizations.

Service to Native Americans, which is targeted to the specific needs of both Native Americans and native Hawaiians.

AoA also helps the elderly and their families understand the varying housing options, including assisted living, nursing homes, and the viability of staying in one’s own house, and additionally provides information on an Elder Locator toll-free telephone which puts callers in touch with services in their local areas.

Comments

Zaina
2 years ago

Make the six core services more clear

Phyllis Bratcher
3 years ago

Hello everyone, my name is Phyllis Bratcher. I'm a senior residing in Yonkers, NY with my daughther and a family of nine people in a 2 bedroom apartment. I had brain surgery last year for a pituitary brain tumor. After surgery I tried to secure an apt
which I found for 800.00 a month but couldn't take because they had no heat or hot water. this was the beginning of this year when I was dicharged from a hehab center in yonkers. I'm receiving social security diability and SSI benefits and trying so hard to
find an affordable apt . I sleep with my grand kids which i love dearly but wish I could find an apt and I can invite them over to spend time with me. I've been looking online for senior housing in Mount Vernon NY where I resided before my surgery.I work for
the Mount Vernon Board of EDucation for over 18 years as Substitute teacher and have a BA Degree and trying to get my Masters. It's very noisey here with my family and I cant study or concentrate well here. So many kids and there friends are constantly at
my daughthers home. Please if at all poosible can you help me or guide to where I can find afforordable low income housing in Mount Vernon or Fleetwood area.My phone number for contact is (914) 562-1214. God bless you and I do hope to hear from you soon. Thank
you.

debrah sims
4 years ago

There can't be an excuse leaving out some elderly people out of meals on wheels.There is no mileage radious when someone is hungry.We think were feeding them when we buy a lottery ticket.I am beginning to think how many in the wv area.Is it a heartless
thing or misinterpretation without representation.

Dolores M. Casillas
5 years ago

My name is Dolores M. Casillas I need to find a place to live in the City of Culver City, CA I have been looking for a place to live for the last two months. I cannot locate an apartment, studio, etc. that I can afford. I get $930 a month from SS only.
I need to find something I can afford. Please let me know if you can give me some information to help me find a place to live. My phone is (310) 498-8394 Thank you. Dolores M. Casillas

Dr. Melody Marshall
6 years ago

i am a member of the episcopal church older adult ministry task force. we are seeking publications about older americans month. does aoa have any such publications?
thank you.

Dorothy E. Brooks
7 years ago

i don't know whether or not you can assist me in the issues i am facing. they are issues i am having with my landlord. i have been to housing, he said to sue him. i went on the last thursday of august the to hart center and spoke with sherry the representative of the senior legal hotline,916-930-4930. i received a message several weeks ago from a manny telling me the sherry suggested he give me a call. i returned his call several times of the past several weeks. he finally cal...

I would like to obtain Kathy Greenlee's email address to discuss with her the funding issues that Public Guardian Programs in Virginia, and nationwide, are presently experiencing and what can be done to save these programs. Thanks-Mike

Born March 16, 1971, Lance Allen Robertson was raised by his grandparents in Wellston, Oklahoma. After serving in the Army, Robertson earned a B.S. in Business at Oklahoma State University in 1993, where he was president of the Off Campus Student Association. He later earned a Master’s in Public Administration at the University of Central Oklahoma in 2015.

Just a year after graduating, Robertson co-founded the Gerontology Institute at Oklahoma State University, of which he was director from February 1994 to June 2005. He also served as executive director of PartnerShips for Aging, the largest regional gerontology association in the U.S. In addition, he was a self-employed aging services consultant and an unpaid “Vintage Visions” columnist for The Oklahoman during these years.

Robertson was hired by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services in February 2006, but did not become director of Aging Services until June 2007. As director, he is responsible for an annual budget of $325 million and a statewide workforce of 255, although Oklahoma’s programs for aging have seen recent budget and workforce cuts.

The Administration on Aging (AoA) is responsible for home and community-based services and programs related to aging. It also focuses on helping empower Americans before and during their later years to make informed decisions about health care options; ensuring the rights of the elderly, to prevent their abuse, neglect and exploitation; and facilitating society to prepare for an aging population.

Although the AoA office was not established until 1965, U.S. government involvement in the specific concerns of the elderly began much earlier. In 1935 the Social Security Act provided for Old Age Assistance and Old Age Survivors Insurance. In 1950, President Truman held the first National Conference on Aging, and two years later the first federal funds for social service programs for the elderly were made available. In 1956 a Special Staff on Aging was established within the Office of the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, and a Federal Council on Aging was created by President Eisenhower. In 1961, the first White House Conference on Aging was held; in 1962 legislation was introduced in Congress to establish an independent and permanent Commission on Aging; and three years later AoA began. In 1965 Medicare and Medicaid were added to the Social Security Act, and in 1967 the Age Discrimination Act was signed into law. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act was established in 1990. Since then, an Older Americans Act Amendment was added to cover vulnerable elder American right activities, including neglect and exploitation and the role of local ombudsman programs. An additional amendment established a new National Family Caregiver Support Program.

AoA, funded by the Older Americans Act, is part of a federal, state, tribal and local partnership called the National Network on Aging, which currently helps about 7 million older people and their caregivers, via 29,000 service providers and thousands of volunteers. The work the network is divided into six core services:

Supportive, which helps provide a wide variety of programs, including adult day care, chore services, financial and legal assistance, and transportation to medical appointments.

Nutrition, which provides education and health screenings and counseling, along with hot meal delivery programs for the homebound, and meal services as well for additional at-risk older people, many of whom come together to receive the meals at senior settings or other group locations .

Preventative health services, which educate about the benefits of regular screenings, positive lifestyle choices, and physical activities, to help prevent many chronic diseases. The guidance it offers also helps the elderly and their families make more informed choices with the goal to increase the length and quality of their lives.

The National Family Caregiver Support Program, which was funded for the first time in 2000, gives those responsible for the primary care of spouses, parents, older relatives and friends’ assistance in accessing relevant services, and knowledge about available support groups, to help them make decisions, solve problems and also take care of themselves in the process. Additionally, the program addresses grandparents caring for grandkids and caregivers of those 18 and under who are mentally retarded or have developmental difficulties.

Services that protect the rights of vulnerable older persons in the areas of abuse, neglect and exploitation, which includes programs that afford access to a long-term care ombudsman on-site at nursing homes, as an advocate to answer questions and investigate and resolve complaints; insurance and pension counseling; and Medicare patrol projects. AoA also awards grants to various groups across the country that carry out their mission, including States, territories, Hawaiian Americans, Native American tribes, and non-profit organizations.

Service to Native Americans, which is targeted to the specific needs of both Native Americans and native Hawaiians.

AoA also helps the elderly and their families understand the varying housing options, including assisted living, nursing homes, and the viability of staying in one’s own house, and additionally provides information on an Elder Locator toll-free telephone which puts callers in touch with services in their local areas.

Comments

Zaina
2 years ago

Make the six core services more clear

Phyllis Bratcher
3 years ago

Hello everyone, my name is Phyllis Bratcher. I'm a senior residing in Yonkers, NY with my daughther and a family of nine people in a 2 bedroom apartment. I had brain surgery last year for a pituitary brain tumor. After surgery I tried to secure an apt
which I found for 800.00 a month but couldn't take because they had no heat or hot water. this was the beginning of this year when I was dicharged from a hehab center in yonkers. I'm receiving social security diability and SSI benefits and trying so hard to
find an affordable apt . I sleep with my grand kids which i love dearly but wish I could find an apt and I can invite them over to spend time with me. I've been looking online for senior housing in Mount Vernon NY where I resided before my surgery.I work for
the Mount Vernon Board of EDucation for over 18 years as Substitute teacher and have a BA Degree and trying to get my Masters. It's very noisey here with my family and I cant study or concentrate well here. So many kids and there friends are constantly at
my daughthers home. Please if at all poosible can you help me or guide to where I can find afforordable low income housing in Mount Vernon or Fleetwood area.My phone number for contact is (914) 562-1214. God bless you and I do hope to hear from you soon. Thank
you.

debrah sims
4 years ago

There can't be an excuse leaving out some elderly people out of meals on wheels.There is no mileage radious when someone is hungry.We think were feeding them when we buy a lottery ticket.I am beginning to think how many in the wv area.Is it a heartless
thing or misinterpretation without representation.

Dolores M. Casillas
5 years ago

My name is Dolores M. Casillas I need to find a place to live in the City of Culver City, CA I have been looking for a place to live for the last two months. I cannot locate an apartment, studio, etc. that I can afford. I get $930 a month from SS only.
I need to find something I can afford. Please let me know if you can give me some information to help me find a place to live. My phone is (310) 498-8394 Thank you. Dolores M. Casillas

Dr. Melody Marshall
6 years ago

i am a member of the episcopal church older adult ministry task force. we are seeking publications about older americans month. does aoa have any such publications?
thank you.

Dorothy E. Brooks
7 years ago

i don't know whether or not you can assist me in the issues i am facing. they are issues i am having with my landlord. i have been to housing, he said to sue him. i went on the last thursday of august the to hart center and spoke with sherry the representative of the senior legal hotline,916-930-4930. i received a message several weeks ago from a manny telling me the sherry suggested he give me a call. i returned his call several times of the past several weeks. he finally cal...

I would like to obtain Kathy Greenlee's email address to discuss with her the funding issues that Public Guardian Programs in Virginia, and nationwide, are presently experiencing and what can be done to save these programs. Thanks-Mike

Born March 16, 1971, Lance Allen Robertson was raised by his grandparents in Wellston, Oklahoma. After serving in the Army, Robertson earned a B.S. in Business at Oklahoma State University in 1993, where he was president of the Off Campus Student Association. He later earned a Master’s in Public Administration at the University of Central Oklahoma in 2015.

Just a year after graduating, Robertson co-founded the Gerontology Institute at Oklahoma State University, of which he was director from February 1994 to June 2005. He also served as executive director of PartnerShips for Aging, the largest regional gerontology association in the U.S. In addition, he was a self-employed aging services consultant and an unpaid “Vintage Visions” columnist for The Oklahoman during these years.

Robertson was hired by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services in February 2006, but did not become director of Aging Services until June 2007. As director, he is responsible for an annual budget of $325 million and a statewide workforce of 255, although Oklahoma’s programs for aging have seen recent budget and workforce cuts.